Effects of Tip Leakage Flow on the Aerodynamic Performance and Stability of an Axial-Flow Transonic Compressor Stage

Botao Zhang, Xiaochen Mao, Xiaoxiong Wu and Bo Liu
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Botao Zhang: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
Xiaochen Mao: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
Xiaoxiong Wu: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
Bo Liu: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: To explain the effect of tip leakage flow on the performance of an axial-flow transonic compressor, the compressors with different rotor tip clearances were studied numerically. The results show that as the rotor tip clearance increases, the leakage flow intensity is increased, the shock wave position is moved backward, and the interaction between the tip leakage vortex and shock wave is intensified, while that between the boundary layer and shock wave is weakened. Most of all, the stall mechanisms of the compressors with varying rotor tip clearances are different. The clearance leakage flow is the main cause of the rotating stall under large rotor tip clearance. However, the stall form for the compressor with half of the designed tip clearance is caused by the joint action of the rotor tip stall caused by the leakage flow spillage at the blade leading edge and the whole blade span stall caused by the separation of the boundary layer of the rotor and the stator passage. Within the investigated varied range, when the rotor tip clearance size is half of the design, the compressor performance is improved best, and the peak efficiency and stall margin are increased by 0.2% and 3.5%, respectively.

Keywords: transonic compressor; stall margin; tip leakage flow; tip clearance size; shock wave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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